The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for sensing, recording, and playing back still and moving images, its control method, and a storage medium.
Conventionally, image processing apparatuses such as electronic cameras and the like, which record/play back still and moving images using memory cards having solid state memory elements as recording media have already been commercially available, and electronic cameras with electronic viewfinders such as color liquid crystal panels and the like have also been commercially available.
These electronic cameras allow the electronic camera user to determine the camera angle by continuously displaying images before sensing, and to confirm the sensed images by playing back and displaying them.
Especially, the function of playing back a sensed image immediately after image sensing is very convenient and effective for the electronic camera user.
In such conventional image processing apparatus such as an electronic camera or the like, when an image is displayed on an electronic viewfinder such as a color liquid crystal panel or the like, since the color liquid crystal panel consumes much electric power, the operable time and the number of images that can be sensed decrease considerably.
On the other hand, when image sensing is done using an optical viewfinder while turning off the electronic viewfinder such as a color liquid crystal panel or the like, consumption power can be reduced, and the operable time and the number of images that can be sensed can be greatly increased. However, in such case, the sensed image cannot be played back and displayed immediately after image sensing, resulting in inconvenience.
Also, in the conventional image processing apparatus such as an electronic camera or the like, in order to easily play back and display a sensed image immediately after image sensing, sensed image data is converted into an image signal format suitable for image playback at an image display unit, and the converted signal is written in a recording medium.
For this reason, a combination of a luminance signal Y and color difference signals R-Y and B-Y, a combination of R, G, and B signals, and the like are used in correspondence with the signal inputs of the image display unit, regardless of the pixel format of an image sensing means such as a CCD or the like. Even in an electronic camera that uses an image sensing means with a unique pixel format, which can assure high image quality, when such camera has a function of playing back and displaying a sensed image immediately after image sensing, an image signal is not recorded in a format that can make most of the high image quality.
On the other hand, in case of an electronic camera which writes sensed image data in a recording medium in an image signal format corresponding to the pixel format of an image sensing means such as a CCD or the like, the recorded image quality can assure high performance of the image sensing means. However, since this image signal format is not suitable for image playback at the image display unit, a sensed image cannot be directly played back and displayed.